Who's On First?

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are among the most famous comedy duos of all time due largely to the success of the bit "Who's On First?"  The sketch finds Abbott the new manager of a baseball team and Costello is attempting to find out the names of the players.  What starts as a simple premise quickly spirals into a rapid fire back and forth that gets more confusing by the second.

As it turns out "who" is the name of the fella who plays first base.  Abbott plays the straight man in this instance and this allows for the very talented Costello to demonstrate his neurotic schtick.  He knocks his hat off, becomes more and more frustrated and in the end, gives up entirely, never realizing he did in fact find out the names of all the players.

The success of the act gave Abbott and Costello the distinction of being the only two people not directly associated with the game of baseball to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  Many believe they were actually inducted, but this is just an urban legend.  The Hall even has an entire exhibit dedicated to the routine showing the bit in it's entirety along side some of baseball's funniest bloopers.